


It's a rat race

by alerie



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-17
Updated: 2012-04-17
Packaged: 2017-11-03 20:29:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/385600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alerie/pseuds/alerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a rat in Harvey's condo. That might not be a big deal to any other person, but despite him being New York City's best closer, Harvey suffers from musophobia. Freaking out is not something he does. Except when he can't help it.</p><p>One more suitsmeme fill...</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a rat race

Donna picks up immediately. She always does.  
"There is a rat in my condo", Harvey tells her in a calm and steady voice. He is well aware that Donna knows how freaked out he is. She probably also knows that he practised getting out that sentence over and over for roughly eight minutes before dialing her number. But he is Harvey Specter, New York City's best closer, always calm, always cool. It will be a frosty day in hell when he finally let's on that there is something out there that gets him to panic. So even though Donna knows about his musophobia, Harvey would never let his voice get squeaky like it wants to right now. She would never let him live that down.  
Wherever his assistant is right now, the background noises are rather loud. But not loud enough to drown out her amused chuckle. Harvey could feel frustration well up inside him but it doesn't cancel out the panic.  
"I need your help with this", he forces out.  
"Sorry boss, I'm afraid you will have to deal with this one on your own. You see, it's friday night and I am having drinks with a very lovely gentleman. It would break his heart if I left to be your knight in shining armour. Besides, my armour is very shiny tonight. Gorgeous dress and even more gorgeous new stilettos. Can't ruin them by crushing your rat with them, now can I? Call an exterminator. I'll see you on monday", she tells him in the sweetest voice. "That is if you can survive that long." And then she hangs up. Harvey swears that she will pay for that, one way or another. Coffee without regular milk perhaps. Or loaning her out to Louis. She will pay.

He can hear the ugly thing move around in the living room and it makes his shoulders tense up even more. Harvey decides that the safest option is to crawl unto his kitchen counter. So he does that before googling "exterminator+nyc" on his phone.

They don't pick up immediately. No, it rings forever and Harvey very nearly hangs up to hyperventilate some more. But then he hears a gruff "Hello" on the other end of the line.  
"I need someone to come over and help me with a rat problem", he says.  
"How many rats are there", the guy asks.  
Harvey rolls his eyes. "What does it matter", he shoots back but tries to stay calm. "It's one rat. And it's turning my living room into its playground."  
"Sir, it's nearly midnight on a friday, there is no way I can send our one guy over to you for just ONE rat."  
"I'll pay you enough as if there were a hundred rats."  
"Sir, there are people in this city who really need our help. Just catch the rat, you will be fine."  
And with that the guy hangs up. Harvey lets out a frustrated yell. It was either that or throwing his phone against the nearest wall.

The call to the next exterminator ends almost exactly the same way, only then the woman who picks up flat out laughs at him when she realises that he is panicking because of a rat.  
He can hear the monster once more and his heart races so hard that Donna's "if you survive that long" doesn't seem like a joke at all anymore. In a last attempt to somehow get it together, Harvey takes a deep breath and scrolls through the contact list in his phone.

Mike picks up even faster than Donna, which normally wouldn't suprise Harvey, but right now his mind is blank.  
"There is a rat in my condo", he says once more, only this time it's not as calm as it should be.  
Mike doesn't say a thing for a few seconds.  
"That ... sucks", he finally answers.  
Harvey bites his bottom lip so hard that it hurts.  
"Look kid, I ... I need your help with this."  
Again, Mike is silent.  
"Harvey, don't tell me that you don't know how to deal with a rat in your apartement. You live in New York City ... you and a million of rats."  
The thought of that insane amount of monsters pushes Harvey over the edge.  
"You think I would call you if i fucking knew how to deal with it? Really?", he yells into his phone.  
"Okay, okay, calm down. I'll take a cab right now. Just ... I need to put on some clothes. I'll be there as soon as possible."  
Harvey doesn't answer, he just lets go of his phone. It falls down onto the kitchen counter with a probably damaging thud while Harvey hides his face in his hands and starts counting seconds. 

He just reached 2053 when he hears his front door open. Maybe he won't hang Donna out to dry, after all it was her who made sure that Mike got keys to Harvey's condo. And there is no way that Harvey would have left the kitchen to open the door. None.  
"Harvey? Where are you", Mike calls out.  
"Kitchen."  
Harvey knows how ridiculous he must look, knees drawn close to his chest, cowering on a kitchen counter.  
So Mike's fit of laughter doesn't come as a surpise. It still sends Harvey into another fit of internal rage and he isn't sure he can keep his emotions in check much longer.  
His associate is clutching a large box in one hand and his stomach with the other, almost doubling over with laughter.

"Why ... why ... why are you ... sitting there", Mike chokes out.  
"Because of the damned rat. Now go catch it. Go!"  
It takes the younger man one more minute and several deep breaths to calm down enough to follow Harvey's outstretched finger and get into the living room.  
"I brought a cage and peanut butter. That should do the trick", he yells.  
Harvey doesn't care if Mike had to cut off one of his fingers in order to catch the beast. He just wanted it gone.

"Okay, the trap is set. Now we have to wait."  
And that they do. Mike brings back a bottle of Scotch from the living room and Harvey feels his hatred towards the younger man fade away.  
"Make it a double", he says darkly and Mike complies.  
"Seriously though. You are scared of rats? That's funny Harvey. You have to admit that it is funny."  
"Says the guy who almost lost us a client when he ran away screaming because he spotted a clown at the client's party."  
"Hey! Clowns are evil. Pure evil! And why would anyone hire a clown for an office party? There weren't even kids there. It was shitfucking scary, okay?"  
"Sure. Because clowns are well known for eating people. Just like rats. Yes Mike, it makes so much sense."

After that Mike shuts up and hands Harvey his drink before pouring one for himself. They don't say anything for the longest time, just sit and stand in the kitchen while slowly emptying their glasses.  
Harvey's heartrate is almost back to normal when a screeching sound comes from the living room and he drops his glass out of reflex.  
Mike shoots him a look and raises his eyebrows.  
"Don't panic boss. I think it's over. Let me check if the rat really is in the cage, kay?"

Harvey almost doesn't hear him. But he gets that this nightmare is possibly over.  
"See, everything's fine. The little fellow is safe and secure now", Mike says when he comes back into the kitchen. And apparently he thought that Harvey should really see for himself, because he is carrying the cage, dangling it really close before Harvey's face.  
"GET IT AWAY FROM ME", Harvey yells at the top of his lungs and Mike chuckles again.  
"It's okay Harvey, Dr. Pepper here won't do anything to you."  
"I don't care. I don't care. I don't care", Harvey repeats over and over as he dashes out of the kitchen into his bedroom.

While he curls up into a ball on his bed he hears the front door open again. A little while later Mike enters the apartement once more and pokes his head into the bedroom.  
Harvey's breathing is still way too harsh and for a second he is worried that Mike will remember this forever. But it's a fleeting thought because he has reached the moment in which his panic robs the last bit of composure from him. When Mike sits down beside him on the matress and gently touches his shoulder, Harvey loses it.  
He doesn't even remember the last time he cried, but right now, tears well up in his eyes and start rolling down his cheeks.  
"It's okay Harvey. The rat is gone, I promise", Mike says while his hand rubs Harvey's shoulder in soothing circles. That gets Harvey to cry even harder, he sobs and grabs his sheets just to hold onto something. "I'm sorry I mocked you. And I'm sorry I showed it to you."

Harvey wills himself to stop weeping, but he can't. This whole ordeal had him strung so tight that he now feels like he could snap in half. Instead of calming down, he starts shaking. At that Mike curses loudly before he lies down on the bed and pulls Harvey close, holding him tightly against his body. He tucks Harvey's head under his chin and goes back to rubbing circles onto his back.  
"I'm sorry", he whispers into Harvey's hair. "It's okay, everything is okay now. You don't have to be afraid anymore. It's over. I've got you. I've got you."  
And finally, Harvey feels the fear drain from him with every single tear. He stops shaking, starts to really breath again.  
"I've got you. It's over", Mike reassures him once more.  
Harvey feels him press a kiss on top of his hair and he starts to feel calmer.  
"You don't always have to be strong, you know. Tonight, I'll be strong for you."  
It should be Harvey's turn to mock Mike, just for being so cheesy. But he finds that he doesn't want to. Harvey knows that his associate will really never forget this, but he's okay with that. He just hopes that those poor bastards in hell won't catch a cold.


End file.
